Ola Aina Believes He Pocketed Mahrez In Nigeria's 1-1 Draw Vs Algeria

In his personal battle with Leicester City's Algeria striker Riyad Mahrez on Friday night, Chelsea product Ola Aina thinks he performed well on his full debut for the Super Eagles.

The current African Footballer of the Year was relatively ineffective and had to be substituted after 63 minutes.

''It was a happy moment for me. I got my first 90 minutes for Nigeria. It was a good game, I think I played a good game,'' said Ola Aina.

''It was a tough game as well because Algeria are not a weak side. I was up against Mahrez s well for the majority of the game and it was a good challenge for me because the world knows how good of a player he is and for me to be able to defend as well as I did against Mahrez I was happy.''

Ola Aina believes the 1-1 result at Stade Mohamed-Hamlaoui, Constantine, which saw Nigeria extend their unbeaten record in the World Cup qualifiers was not a true reflection of the game.

''I was happy for the team also, I felt we did very well. I don’t think we should have drawn the game in my opinion. We did very well.

''We defended very well, we attacked very well and also passed the ball very well. We worked really hard, It was an enjoyable game.'' concluded Aina.

Igho Kingsley